The Data Could be Our Demise

Every totalitarian movement begins with deluding and confusing the populace. Well, confusion and delusion abound in an era where the technological sector is the only part of our collective cultural myth of "progress" that seems to be, well, progressing. That is moving toward the ever-shifting goals of this socioeconomic utopia that one day will supposedly provide for everyone's needs. That's the delusion. The ever-shifting goalposts, moral relativity and the breakneck speed of technology provide the confusion. However, keep in mind that those who sit at the very top of this confusion and delusion are not confused or deluded in the least.

We've exchanged our privacy for massive convenience and the thrill of high-tech to the point that privacy has become an outdated, pre-internet, pre-information age notion. Anonymity doesn't exist. But the populace simply doesn't understand the implications of bulk data collection. of artificial intelligence, of the digital world that continues to replace the analog world. They are not fully informed as to how much of their data is being harvested and how it’s being used or misused. In other words, the vast majority fail to comprehend the implications of social engineering enhanced by exponential technological advancement. They fail to understand how the collection of data governs every aspect of our lives. (See China's social credit system)

From  Digital Fascism Rising?

“Any claim that we humans are (already) contending with a new form of – this time digital – fascism will immediately be discredited as overblown.

No wonder: There are very powerful business forces who each make tens of billions of dollars a year by singing the sweet song of how our existence as individuals, as well as democracy in general, is enhanced by the conveniences of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.

However, the real issue is whether democracy, such as we know it, can survive Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. We have long entered a world rife with new kinds of behavioral manipulation.

Whether we like to admit it or not, today’s secret services and Big Data companies possess much more data about us than were needed to run totalitarian states in the past. It is unlikely that such power will not be misused at some point in time. ...We humans have been sweet talked collectively to the point that we don’t even realize this new, digitally empowered kind of totalitarianism.

In the end, we're giving our permission for the substitution of a collective overmind artificially constructed by billion/trillion dollar multinationals and governments--in other words, men who want to be as gods-- for the One True God. We're led to believe in the "socioeconomically redemptive power of miracle technologies," despite all of the evidence that clearly demonstrates the opposite. Political-economic discourse is arranged precisely to obscure a “social imperative of privilege and discrimination." Instituting controls over these organizations and institutions that collect and hold this data to prevent abuse is never going to happen when they very clearly aren’t answerable to anyone.


Links:

The Rise Of Totalitarian Technology

Global Mass Surveillance And How Facebook's Private Army Is Militarizing Our Data

Robocall Debt Collectors are Already Demonizing Debtors

San Diego Has Been Turned Into A Massive Chinese-Style Public Surveillance Network

MLB Going Full-Blown TSA: Teams Prepare To Scan Millions Of Fans Faces


If Truth Be Told About Fake News, Trolls & “Astroturfing”

Google's Selfish Ledger

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Technological Utopianism? Power and Mechanical Efficiency Without Moral Restraint

Certainly technological progress can lead to very positive changes, however, that is only if we understand that technology is supposed to serve humanity, not the other way around.  Yet, today, technology is advancing so rapidly--exponentially--without time for conscious moral intention or consideration. Previous rules, mores, and norms--for better or worse--are discarded without blinking an eye.  So, are we wise enough, moral enough, intelligent enough to control technology? Artificial intelligence?  Apparently not, as you will see,  we have become subservient to the neutral machine/technology, devoid of any moral or spiritual value and/or meaning. . 


For one, we've become more isolated than ever before, substituting electronics for real face-to-face human interaction and outdoor activity.

Two, life, it seems, has become more complex, time consuming, and frustrating, even though technology is supposed to simplify not to mention, increase quality and recreational time. 

Three, despite easy access to information, we're dumber and more dependent (on technology) than ever.  While we have access to lots of information--way too much, in fact--information isn't knowledge if you don't understand it.  I mean, how can one have knowledge or understanding when computers do everything? 

Four, as we grow increasingly ignorant and more reliant on these emerging technologies, those who pull the strings of government and society have been and continue to be very busy translating information superiority into combat power. In other words, post modern warfare or network centric warfare to master the human domain.

The network centric warfare platform takes the individual decision making out of the equation. In other words, the system is making the decisions for you. Left to robots--real terminators--death will be on a massive scale few can imagine because believe it or not, human beings do not naturally kill other human beings. They must be brainwashed, indoctrinated, etc., to kill. Hence, the proliferation of electronic warfare games for children.





Links:

Failed Thermostat: The illusion of Control in an Information Rich Age

How the CIA made Google.

"INSURGE INTELLIGENCE, a new crowd-funded investigative journalism project, breaks the exclusive story of how the United States intelligence community funded, nurtured and incubated Google as part of a drive to dominate the world through control of information. Seed-funded by the NSA and CIA, Google was merely the first among a plethora of private sector start-ups co-opted by US intelligence to retain ‘information superiority.’

The origins of this ingenious strategy trace back to a secret Pentagon-sponsored group, that for the last two decades has functioned as a bridge between the US government and elites across the business, industry, finance, corporate, and media sectors. The group has allowed some of the most powerful special interests in corporate America to systematically circumvent democratic accountability and the rule of law to influence government policies, as well as public opinion in the US and around the world. The results have been catastrophic: NSA mass surveillance, a permanent state of global war, and a new initiative to transform the US military into Skynet.

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